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Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch 3130 for Dell Software Configuration Guide
OL-13270-01
Chapter3 Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default Gateway
Assigning Switch Information
The normal boot process involves the operation of the boot loader software, whic h perfo rm s the se
activities:
•Performs low-level CPU initialization. It initializes the CPU registers, which control where physical
memory is mapped, its quantity, its speed, and so forth.
•Performs power-on self-test (POST) for the CPU subsystem. It tests the CPU DRAM and the portion
of the flash device that makes up the flash file system.
•Initializes the flash file system on the system board.
•Loads a default operating system software image into memory and boots up the switch.
The boot loader provides access to the flash file system bef ore the operat ing system is loaded . Normally,
the boot loader is used only to load, uncompress, and start the operating system. After the boot loader
gives the operating system control of the CPU, the boot loader is not active until the next system reset
or power-on.
The boot loader also provides trap-door access into the system if the operating system has problems
serious enough that it cannot be used. The trap-door mechanism provides enough access to the system
so that if it is necessary, you can format the flash file system, reinstall the operating system software
image by using the Xmodem Protocol, recover from a lost or forgotten password, and finally restart the
operating system. For more information, see the “Recovering from a Software Failure” section on
page 47-2 and the “Recovering from a Lost or Forgotten Password” section on page 47-3.
Note You can disable password recovery. For more information, see the “Disabling Password Recovery”
section on page 7-5.
Before you can assign switch information, make sure you have connected a PC or te rminal to the console
port or a PC to the Ethernet management port, and make sure yo u h ave configured t he PC o r
terminal-emulation software baud rate and character format to match these of the switch conso le port:
•Baud rate default is 9600.
•Data bits default is 8.
Note If the data bits option is set to 8, set the parity option to none .
•Stop bits default is 1.
•Parity settings default is none.
Assigning Switch Information
You can assign IP information through the chassis management controller (CMC) GUI or manually.
If the switch reboots, it uses the IP address, subnet mask, an d gateway in the saved configurati on file.
The switch stack is managed through a single IP address. The IP address is a system-level setting and is
not specific to the stack master or to any other stack member. You can still manage the stack through the
same IP address even if you remove the stack master or any other stack member from the stack, provided
there is IP connectivity.